Place Your Bets
by Thyme In Her Eyes
Summary: I didn't know Aeris had a gambling addiction... [Cloud x Aeris]


Place Your Bets

by Thyme In Her Eyes

_Author's Note: _God, this fic is purest fluff. Silly, fun fluff to boot. And I don't apologise for writing it. I haven't written anything featuring Cloud and Aeris (still one of my all-time favourite fictional couples) in ages, so please forgive me if I'm a little rusty. Anyway, this is set during the party's second visit to Gold Saucer, after Cloud gets the Keystone from Dio but before the group tries to leave and have to stay at the Ghost Hotel. All feedback is appreciated. Enjoy!

-- PLACE YOUR BETS --

'_A gambler is nothing but a man who makes his living out of hope.'_

– William Bolitho.

'_A sure thing is no fun.'_

– Chico Marx.

x-x-x

"I didn't know Aeris had a gambling addiction."

Cloud could only blink and stare, his cool demeanour shattered. "Um, _what?_"

That was how it had happened. It was just a blithe comment from Yuffie before she waltzed off to scope out the warriors and show off her skills at the Battle Arena, but it knocked Cloud for six. He looked into her face for lies or humour or a trace of mischief, but didn't find anything, and then he began to feel mild panic creep up his spine. It was unbelievable, but he could tell it was true, that Aeris had been gambling at the Chocobo Square. Without even trying, Yuffie wove a horror story for him when, under further interrogation, she told him how she'd passed Aeris at the Racing Square, where she'd been for hours apparently, and saw her placing bet after bet on the chocobo races like it was going out of style.

Even though the young ninja thought it was hilarious how all of a sudden Cloud looked much less like a toughened mercenary worthy of the most delirious of girly crushes and more like the type of nervous and worried schoolboy she'd turned down dates with, she was fairly nonplussed and couldn't understand how he could look so mortified. She didn't know Aeris well enough yet to realise how out of character it was; sure she liked the other girl well enough and was vaguely surprised that it turned out to be Aeris and not a more obvious candidate like, say Cid, but she'd assumed that coming from the Midgar slums, the flower-girl must've picked up a couple of vices along the way. Everyone had their secrets, right?

She didn't see, Cloud knew, that Aeris was not like every other slum-girl from Midgar. And Yuffie's mindless rambling on about the probability of Aeris rubbing shoulders with real shady characters, the reality of addictive personalities and how difficult was it to effectively stage an intervention just made it worse and worse. Other kinds of horrors he could easily deal with, but this would be a complete _nightmare_.

And when Cloud remembered that he'd entrusted all the party's money to Aeris that day; had given her all their gil for supplies, weapons, materia, lodging, food and clothes, the potential for disaster suddenly exploded. The cheery music blaring through the speakers suddenly transformed from annoyingly upbeat into dark, mocking laughter.

"Whatever you end up doing, you better help her out quick, is what I think." Yuffie commented, her tone of voice trying for sagely, but missing by a long shot. "Because, compulsive gambling? It's a disease, Cloud. A **_disease_**."

He was worried about the money, but close to terrified for Aeris herself. Halfway through Yuffie's innocent joke about needing to pawn the hard-won Keystone in order to break even, he broke into a mad dash across the theme park. All the enemies he'd faced down in the Battle Arena less than twenty minutes ago hadn't so much as raised his heart rate, but this made him completely frantic. He wondered more than once why he cared so much, but contended himself with resigning to the fact that he just plain _did _and that was that.

One thing you had to get used to with Aeris was the quirky eccentricities which could shift gears within any given moment. It wasn't as if she was an outlandish or deliberately shocking, nutty or flaky person: she was rational, very serious and wise under the outgoing and cheerful surface, and a sweet breath of fresh air because she was someone who was strangely normal and untouched by the ups and downs of her life. Not damaged goods, like him. But after getting to know her a little better, it was easy to see under the normality and the conventional sweetness were a million strange, individualistic tendencies. Things uniquely Aeris, and there was no way to avoid them. You either accepted them or refused to, but you could never change her. At the best of times, Cloud couldn't say that those aspects of her personality didn't intimidate him and Cloud started to wonder how well he really knew her as he tried to think of what situation he might be faced with. He didn't know what was more daunting – standing off with an angry Aeris, or having his own image of her shattered. He thought about what he might find, and couldn't even _imagine_ it, but fully knew that he didn't want to see her like that.

He didn't like to think of her in harm's way, and _this_ was harm. She was so nice, so fun-loving, so genuine...there was no way the hardcore gamblers of Gold Saucer wouldn't eat her alive, and that thought tied sick knots in his stomach and tugged at them harder and harder the closer he came to the Chocobo Square.

He reached the Square, having no idea what to do or say when he arrived. Killing monsters and fighting off Shinra's elite was all in a day's work, but for this he had to really steel himself. Standing just outside a large crowd, he put a hand to his forehead and tried to massage his temples, feeling crazy worry and disbelief brewing in him as he tried to figure out what to do, or find a way out of this mess.

He moved in closer and saw her at last. Then, shocked, he had to do a real double-take. His fears and the hundred worries that had risen up in him – funny fears he couldn't properly understand and had quickly shied away from analysing further – shrank away and instead left him blinking, awed, and very confused as he tried to make full sense of what exactly he was seeing. It just refused to register right.

"Damn, I thought the blue one was a shoo-in..." he heard a man's voice, somewhere to his left. "I swear, that girl has the gift..."

The girl, Cloud noticed, that the man was speaking about was Aeris. Aeris, who was only a few feet away from him, almost obscured by a crowd of people, placing bets hard and fast. And winning like a pro, too.

Aeris was standing in the middle of a bustling crowd, watching the races – the centre of attention, the star of the show. And they were all cheering. _For her_. They were all familiar with her, all friendly, like a family reunion or a group of old pals celebrating something. They were cheering her on as she shouted crazy, happy, delighted things at her chocobo as it ran...and it won. And not for the first time by the look of it. As the chocobo she had her attention fixed on crossed the finish line and she screamed out in joy and burst into whoops of laughing glory, the crowd went completely wild, and Cloud felt as if he were watching a movie or a fireworks display – something so impressive and that affected him, but so far away. She did a little victory jig to the tune of the loud, upbeat theme-park music blaring through the speakers, swinging her hips a little, clapping her hands and grinning at her newly-made friends. Cloud watched, too shocked to gauge his own emotional reaction, as Aeris squealed in joy and on impulse pulled a total stranger into a tight hug and had it returned fully, and laughed in celebration as she shared high-fives with more random people, whose names she'd already memorised, and who were just as shocked and ecstatic at her unlikely win.

That was it. Nothing would ever shock him again. Cloud knew it was maybe best to expect the unexpected when it came to Aeris, but he could never have pictured her as a natural gambler, wildly celebrating her winnings. But she was – in Midgar she'd grown and sold flowers for a living, but here she was gambling and had a real knack for it and was truly enjoying herself by the look of it, losing herself in the game. Maybe she even did bizarre things like convince men to cross-dress every day.

Cloud knew he should have been used to it, should have been used to that weird ability of hers to always take him by surprise. She caught him off guard often now, making him shy and awkward and happy all at the same time. That was another thing about her – he'd realise in calm and reserved bewilderment five minutes after ending a conversation with her that she'd seen through something or knocked down a defence, and he never knew how to react to that, or if he should think of it as a good thing or a bad thing. Aeris had her unconventional moments, moments when she defied however he'd managed to categorise her in his mind, moments that seemed to have been engineered to deliberately fluster him. And every time he promised himself it'd be the last, that there were no more surprises left, that he could understand her and predict her now, that she couldn't catch him unawares or peel away his guard without even trying.

She was hopeless at catching chocobos when they'd all had a go at it months ago, always stumbling over her own feet when they were chasing after the overgrown birds, and when she threw the greens her aim was always way off – but then when the party ran into trouble with the Midgar Zolom later, she'd swooped in like a furious, defending angel and with a perfectly-timed sweep of her staff and chanting of a summon-spell, had managed to save him from a deadly snap of massive, poisoned fangs. Her eyes were always full of deep knowledge, mysteries, knowing smiles, playful secrets and mystical information that left him puzzled and nervous about how fascinated he was, but in the next second she could complain comically about how unfair it was that she was the only group-member who couldn't whistle. She was soft, but also sharp and quick and tough. She could make him laugh and think, sometimes with the same words.

Aeris wasn't like Yuffie, who was consciously outrageous sometimes and who liked to talk and talk – no, there was more to Aeris than being lively and talkative (more to Yuffie too, maybe, but that was another story). But she wasn't like Tifa, who was quiet and hurting, but always pretended not to be. Aeris had long phases of silence, thought and sadness, phases that by turns confused, interested and hurt him. He could rarely guess at what she was thinking or come close to fully mapping her personality and figuring her out, but more and more, he was feeling like he wanted to. He wanted to see what was really there and be able to understand at last what he was looking at.

She'd never had a formal education, but she made him feel like she could run rings around him. She'd never had a driving lesson in her life but still had insisted and cajoled like a child for a turn with the buggy and had put the fear of God into them all as she zoomed across the desert, screaming laughter, and had stirred distant and strange memories of motion-sickness in him. The only songs she seemed to know came from the less-successful Midgar musicals, and she loved to belt out their big numbers now and then. She could smile sweetly and happily rip off some sleazy guy when it came to the going rate for flowers, and then talk about deep and confusing spiritual issues, and then giggle and succeed in drinking everyone except Barret under the table.

Heck, within 24 hours of meeting her, she'd somehow managed to get him into a custom-made silk dress, a wig, and had made him endure her spraying him with sickly-sweet cologne, and then had helped him apply make-up. So Cloud knew that he shouldn't have been easy to surprise, but somehow Aeris had managed it again.

"Okay, okay; time to pay up!" she was calling out playfully, the wry smile he knew so well showing up in her voice. The cheers and chants raised as she made her way to the booth.

On the sidelines, he watched as she made more bets, and won every single one, each chocobo ending the race in the place she'd predicted. Sometimes she won only a little, sometimes a lot, and her small fan-club grew more and more excited. From what he picked up, making his way through the crowd, she'd been winning continuously – either by some natural gift or a genius eye for the chocobos. All the onlookers were on her side, amazed and cheering her on to more and more victories, all keen to make friends with her before she passed through. Cloud could only stare dumbly as she won again and cheered wildly, burning with life, thrill and energy, and whipped around to hug and kiss strangers.

She was on fire, someone called out, and Cloud noticed how the glittering lights reflected off her hair and in her eyes and he thought that she was glowing instead. The sense of enjoyment radiating off her made him strangely happy to witness, and a small part envious of the unthinking freedom in all her gestures. He knew she was a larger-than-life personality, outgoing and flirty, full of life and energy and fun, and she always threw him for a loop, but he'd rarely seen her inside her own element like this. He hadn't seen her smile so freely and joyously since Cosmo Canyon.

"She your girl or something, Spike?" A man in black asked him.

Cloud crossed his arms. "..."

"Just saying if she _is_, you want to hang on to her, that's all. She's a prizewinner, that lady. A real keeper."

"...Don't call me 'Spike'."

The guy backed off with a muttered remark that Cloud paid no attention to, and turned his attention back to the racing birds. Whereas Cloud focused his attention inwards, trying to ignore how much he disliked the way the guy was looking at Aeris, and trying _very _hard not to acknowledge anything the man had said about them.

His girl? Cloud wasn't anywhere near that far down the line. He didn't know what she was, to be honest. She was a confusing person. And there was a lot of trepidation in him when it came to thinking about giving serious consideration to what she was, in general or to him.

Cloud wanted to approach her now, but had no idea how to. His gaze was soft as he watched her. She was quieter now, concentrating on how to bet during the next race, her foot tapping lightly to the beat of the music playing. He felt stupefied and disarmed as she suddenly whirled round, caught sight of him, and he saw her face break out into that familiar, pretty smile.

"Hi, Aeris," he said, quietly and evenly.

"Hi Cloud! Come join us!" she called out, waving him over; her face bright with happiness and seeming pleased to see him. "Cloud you won't believe it, it's incredible, we've got a small fortune now, I could do so much for everyone with this money..."

As she spoke, excitement and happiness dancing in her eyes, she ushered him away from the big crowd that closed in around them, and he was quietly grateful for the privacy and breathing space. Thinking over her words as she chatted about the money and imagined ways to best spend it, he was also strangely touched that her first thought had been about the group and that they had been on her mind all along as she placed her bets.

"So did you get the Keystone? You didn't have any problems or anything?"

"No," he answered, running a hand through his hair. "Well, I wouldn't say that it was straightforward, because what are the chances of that ever happening to us? But it was as straightforward and easy as it could have been, I think. Anyway, we got it and that's what matters."

"That's good, Cloud. That's real good to know."

"Yeah…er, looks like you've been having a good time."

"A _great_ time!"

"Say Aeris, I don't want to ruin anything, but are you sure you want to be doing that?"

"Why shouldn't I? I'm on one mean winning streak right now."

He let it go. He'd let her know his thoughts, and that was all he could realistically do. She was stubborn, and had an almost-annoying way of being right even when it really seemed like she wasn't, or shouldn't be. And also, he trusted her.

"Besides," she added with a wink. "This is way more lucrative than the flower business."

He smiled and nodded slowly. "I guess you know what you're doing. And I noticed you've been doing...all right."

"No kidding!"

"Yeah, but...um, thanks, Aeris. The money's going to be a big help to all of us."

"Yeah, I'd hoped so. But I think a special Cetra power just kicked in today to specially help with that. Not that I've been consciously cheating or anything, I promise."

He chuckled at that and they got to talking as he watched her bet and win again and again, her fan-club trickling away now that she was deep in private conversation. He'd told her about Yuffie and his initial crazy fears and gently, Aeris managed to make him loosen up, let go a little, and dare to laugh at himself and find the experience not half bad. Like sly and sneaky children, they'd both agreed that after Yuffie's stunt at Wutai and managing to make Aeris sound like a woman hooked on chocobo races, that a little revenge was in order sometime soon. And whilst planning that and other pipe dreams, Cloud momentarily forgot all about Sephiroth and Shinra and the burning ache for revenge and the terrible force always driving himself and the group forwards into more danger. For a moment, they vanished, and he was a person again for a brief time; a person trying desperately not to think about how the girl standing next to him had such a cute smile.

Aeris was also working hard trying to get her newly-discovered super Cetra abilities to help her convince Cloud into taking a chance and placing a bet or two of his own. She wasn't having much success.

"Aeris, I'm not much of a gambler. At all." He was going to say more, going to say he'd never done it before but stopped himself – he was sounding like a scared kid, not like a man of action, a man who feared nothing.

"Neither was I; but trust me, it's so much fun!" Her look was gentler now, and reached out to the part of him he'd just tried to squash. "We've got a lot to hand here, it's no big deal if you lose. It's the fun of the game that counts, not the money. At least, to me, anyway."

Again, she managed to surprise him. She'd do things he never expected her to do and then get him to do things he'd never normally expect himself to do either. It didn't make sense. He never expected to have as much fun as he did whenever he was with her. Standing around and arguing good-naturedly about gambling seemed like much less of a waste of time when it was with Aeris.

She was close to convincing him to give the races a shot, quickly wearing down his defences and protests and very creatively using the bodyguard line a couple of times. But before he gave in they both noticed Gold Saucer security heading towards them, and suddenly they both realised how unusual Aeris' uninterrupted run of wins had been and it hit them that they could be courting a fair bit of trouble. They shared a quick and affirming look, one that passed between them and their other friends so often during a battle, when the stakes were high and knowing how to co-ordinate attacks was vital.

But they didn't attack. This time, they escaped. Grabbing each other and hauling each other out of there, they ran; bolting through the heaving crowds and dashing for the exit, running like crazy. They ducked and dodged and hid and tried to blend into the crowd but with spiky yellow hair and a bright combination of pink and red between the two them, becoming inconspicuous was far from easy. But after one last breathless and bolting run for the passage to the next area of Gold Saucer, they made it. It was only after they'd stopped to catch their breath, share a triumphant grin and silently reminisce about how they first met, and how similar it was to this, that they noticed that all through the run, they'd been gripping each other's hands.

Aeris stepped away, smiling and petting her pouch of gil. "I think I better take this stash back to the hotel and keep it safe there. Nanaki said he'd be there, and so did Vincent, so even if the security guys track me down, I'm not going to get my thumbs broken."

"Yeah, I know...you're used to danger, right?"

"Exactly! I think you might be catching on at last."

"Yeah, I'm getting used to not winning those arguments." He said, a small and sheepish smile creeping up his face.

"I'm sorry, Cloud," she said, giggling lightly. "But you'll see, I really can take good care of myself. You know that by now, right?"

Of course he did. How many times had she saved his life, or someone else's, on the road over the past few weeks? Over the course of the journey so far, everyone had fallen into some danger and been there to pull someone out of danger, too. Maybe Aeris could be a bit funny and unpredictable sometimes, but she was more than reliable in a tough spot.

"I do, Aeris. I'll see you there, okay? The rest of us'll meet you there later before we head out. Right now, I guess I need to find the others. They're probably wondering what's happened to me, not to mention the Keystone."

"Personally, I hope not. They should be having so much fun that they can forget about all that for a time. But I'll meet you later then, okay?" Aeris said, sighing. "No more races, no more money. Oh well, we did okay for a day's work, huh? What do you think?"

"I'm thinking about whether or not you're going to try and sneak back in disguise later."

"Hey!" she said in mock-offence, putting her hands on her hips and giving him a tiny glare. "For your information, I'm not addicted! I can quit anytime!"

He smiled at her and raised an eyebrow. She was supposed to laugh, but she didn't. She was studying his face now, and the smug smile on it, as if she was trying to figure something out about him, as if some clues were written on his face in plain sight. It made him a tad uncomfortable and unsure of what to do.

"Oh, okay..." she said in frustration. "So maybe I'll have some withdrawal pangs later. _Maybe_. Oh, it's too bad we had to leave so soon. I would've loved to see you have a go."

"Maybe it's better that I didn't. I don't think I have your talent for it."

"You know, they say that the luckiest person is the one who _believes_ they're lucky."

He thought about her and her attitude to life and her hope in her own future and dreams and he could believe it. He had no idea where he would stand if the world really worked that way, though. Truth be told, it didn't bear thinking about.

"I don't know. I think I'd prefer a sure thing."

"Aw, _that's_ not the point. It's all about trying your luck. Where's the fun in knowing that you're going to win for sure?"

"In not losing?"

"Oh! You're terrible!" she laughed, poking his arm. "Ha, well, it's your loss in the end if you don't come round. Who knows, you could be walking around lucky and never know it."

"I don't know..." So far, life had been a mixed bag.

"Next time, then? You'll go for it the next time we pass by Gold Saucer? For me? Come on, I promise I'll teach you the ropes."

He allowed a smile. "...Sure. Why not?"

"Thanks, Cloud! Makes me happy to hear that."

He didn't fully know it yet, but he _would_ keep that almost-promise he made her. Sometime, after her death but in the lull between that time and the fall of Shinra and the destruction of Sephiroth and Meteor, the party would – for an unmemorable reason – go back to Gold Saucer. He wouldn't be sure if the party would succeed or fail against Sephiroth, or if the Planet would survive or be destroyed, and maybe that was the reason behind returning to the theme park – to keep his promise to her just in case he wouldn't have the chance again, and would die with one more harsh blemish on him. And once there, he would take some time alone, sunk in thought, and would come back to the Racing Arena and place his bets. He would lose every single one too, but it wouldn't matter then, any more than it would bother him. Some losses just weren't that terrible when you looked at the bigger picture. And what would matter to Cloud was that he'd kept his word and that he could feel a part of her with him, watching him, wincing with him and putting a sympathetic hand on his shoulder with every blistering loss. And maybe telling him not to worry about it.

Of course, she was with him now, in the present and in the flesh but he could never guess how soon she'd be gone, so he couldn't be anything other than casual and cool with her. All he knew was that he kind-of liked how she assumed that they would end up going back again to the theme park some time in the future. He didn't understand why he liked that, or why that warmed him to her as much as it did, and felt self-conscious again. Thinking of Aeris and of gambling and of luck, he remembered an old Nibelheim proverb about how an ounce of luck was far better than a pound of gold. Strangely, it made him consider Aeris and wonder about her value, and how to translate his awareness of her importance from a twinge of suspicion or a twitchy feeling in his gut into something he could comprehend and make sense of.

"I'm probably not going to win or anything..." He said sheepishly, a bit embarrassed with himself and his turn of thoughts.

"You think it matters to me? Besides, I'll be with you. Maybe my super-special Cetra gambling powers will help you out. Hey, maybe they could even manage a thing or two on this adventure."

The only answer he could reach at that time was one that didn't satisfy him at all. "It's a risky business..."

"If you ask me, I think some risks are worth taking." Aeris said, and then darted in towards him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Then, with a tiny wave, she walked off casually before he could react or think of what he was supposed to do or say, and left him blinking, silenced and stunned. He stood, awkward and angular, as he watched her go. Even though he couldn't see her face, Cloud knew she was smiling. She'd doled out sweet and light kisses like candy earlier with her fan-club, but somehow he wasn't sure it meant the same thing with him afterwards. Her smile had been too special, too full of things he couldn't translate.

He should have done something cool and impressive before she left, but he just stood there, bewildered and confused and unsure if he was happy or not. After all, he'd just recently won several rounds at the Battle Arena and barely broke a sweat, so how come a girl in pink could fluster him and make him nervy and tongue-tied? He should've been cool and collected, a real man or something, but she was gone before his brain started working properly again and all he could do was tentatively touch his cheek with his hand.

Alright. So _now_ nothing could ever shock him again. There was no way on earth she could ever do _anything_ that would –

No. That wasn't a safe bet to make, he thought as he walked away from the bright lights of the Chocobo Square and picked up his PHS and began dialling.

As he walked off, two random figures from the crowd that had cheered Aeris on watched him leave. The, they walked back towards the Racing Arena and talked amongst themselves through the bright, multicoloured lights and over the blaring, too-cheery music.

"So, who wants to bet that they'll end up together?"

"Man, I'll take **those** odds…"

-- FIN --


End file.
